Coal-handling apparatus.



No. 869,929. PATENTED NOV. 5, 1907.

J. M. MUCLELLON,

COAL HANDLING APPARATUS.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 1o. 1907.

SHEETS-SHEET l.

VW/afgis No. 869,929. PATBNTBD Nov. 5, 1907. J. M. MUGLELLON.

GOAL HANDLING APPARATUS.

APPLIUATION FILED JUNE 1o. 1907.

6 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

No. 869,929. PATBNTED NOV. 5, 1907. J. M. MGGLELLON.

COAL HANDLING APPARATUS.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 10. 1907.

6 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

n Efe/#ort es' James' mima/em,

PATENTED NOV. 5, 1907.

APPLIGATON FILED JUNE 10. 1907.

No. 869,929. PATENTED NOV. 5, 1907. J. M. MOGLELLON.

GOAL HANDLING APPARATUS.

APPLIUATION FILED .TUNE 10. 190?.

G SHEETS-SHEET 5.

7. M 0 w m s 5 V l T w n N u D 6 E T N E T T w 7 #SIE A 1. 0 ifa N R 0 Il) l): l www Q 2 f .r U l/.f v m M m f; :d: fr, nw Mm /7/, i. M T. P @iff/1 .y L N DO Il M.. mm /12/. Tu .M H Q/ff A 0 nu 6 GW 2 0W. 9 w 2 M W MM w, Wm. M s e @y suitable tre'stle-work 7, 8, and I have'herein ,shownI i UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE;

JAMESIM.' McoLELLoNgfoF EVERETT, MASSACHUSETTS.

` coAL-HANDLING APPARATUS.

'Neilsea'eeaj To all whom it may concern; j

Be it known that I, JAMES M. MCGLELLON, acitizen lofthe United lStates, residing at Everett, county of Suffolk, and State of Massachusetts, have-invented an Improvement in Coal-Handling. Apparatus., of which 1 --thefollowing description, in connection with the ac;-

ompanying drawing, is a specification, like letters on the drawing representing like parts.

- .the.coal or other material ,to tracks at the ends of they bridge and which' bridge also has thereon a suitable hoisting device for elevating the space to the conveyers.

This invention relates to coal-handlingy apparatus of' thetypewhich comprises a movable bridge'spanning an openstorage space foi-,the coal and having .thereon .one or more conveyers .which are adapted to. convey another object is to improve generally apparatus of this -class so A that coal or other material mayibe handledl more expeditiously thereby.

In the drawings I have-shownsome of the selected embodiments'o my invention merely for the purpose of illustrating' the principle thereof without however attempting to confine myselfto the-'construction shown herein... f Referring now to the drawings, Figure l is a side elevation 4of an apparatusembodying my invention;

Fig. 2 is an end view of the bridge shown in Fig. 1 with..

the hoisting apparatus thereon; Figi 3 is a top plan viewofthe bridge and storage space; Fig. 4.is a view similar to Fig. 2 showing a different arrangement of the convey: ers on the bridge; Fig. 5--isafp01'tion ol a side view ol..

a bridgeshowingra; different arrangement of the hoisting apparatus from that shown in Fig. 2; Fig. 6`shows.

. Y anotherway of arranging'the hoisting apparatus; Fig. ,z

` veyer arrangement shown in Fig. 5; Fig. 8 is a detail -of one way of securing the strongfbacks in place.

3 is a bridge of any suitable or usual. construction I which spans the storage spacel for Icoalor Aother matej rial. The bridge is mounted atyits ends on tracksor.

7 yis a view" showing an end view ofthe bridge and conways 5, 6 which extend longitudinallyof the storage space on either side thereof so that the-,bridge Y' move from one end to the other or' the storage space in` r a direction transversely to the length of the bridge` 'As liereinshown, the tracks 5 and 6 are supported on 'two tracksI 5 for supporting one-end oi the bridge andt arsingle track 6 for supporting the other\-endthereof. Each of these trestle-Worksmay support suitable stor."

age bins-9 and the bridge is provided wit-ha conveyer Y 01* conveyers running longitudinally thereof by means u `Specification of Letters Patent; i App1icas0ns1ed-rune1o.1907. seala, 378,155.`

' ratentd Noms, 1907. y

.of whichcoal orotlierginaterial elevated the storagespace .4 by asuitable,hoistingdevice may be conveyed toand discharged into the storage ybilled). `4 i l y The .conveyenprconveyersemployed onthe bridge u may beofV ,any suitablelor usufalconstruction, such as Aendless ponveyersorcars, and it is the latter form .of conveyer. which I vvhavefhereiny illustrated. These `carsare ldesignated 10 and they are arranged to travel on tracks ll-,carried byxtheb/ridg'e and extending lon-` gitudinally thereof. Themtracks 111 `are arranged to communicate with a permanent track 12 which is supported by the treads-.work thereon. l y.

.I havel shown two tracksy 11 lcarried by the bridge landthesetracks areconnected together at Yone end of thebridge a loop l5: and atlthefother end of the bridgethey communicatel with the track l2 by suitable..

switches 14.. The. bridge will preferably be formed ,with aweu .16 extending longitudinally thereof within v,which .the lhoistingy apparatuswpresently .to, be' described may be locatedwlthis construction being prefer- ,storage space 4 `by loadingthe CarslOat some suitable .point, vrunning them. aldrxgthe track 12 and onto'fthe A. tracks 11 in the 'bridgeand d urnpinglsaid` cars while onthe tracks .lleitherby-.hand or' automatically.

-v' The parts thus far described areor maybe such as are usually found in coal-handling apparatus of thisgeneral .type andiorm no, part of my present inventiongone featureof which relates to'riovelarrangement o f hoisting device and its controllingkmechanism vwhereby the coal or other, material vWhich may ,bel elevated fromthe stori age Ispace lllarriay .be discharged Ainto vcars ,10 on either side ofthe well at the willoi the operator.

In the forms of .the invention.shownl in,Figs. 1, 2, 4

1,7.whichtravels' longitudinallyoi the ,bridge within the .i .1.; :Well on suitable tracks l8f-said carriage being propelled von saidutracks, .by any suitable mechanism notl shown. The hoisting device may haveanyvsuitable or usual lconstruction, andinFigls.1 l to 5 I haveshown more or ,.jlessuconventionallyan. Aelectrichoist which is arranged to loperate ,af-bucket, scoop y grab or other elevating .device 20 by which the coal. orother material may be `elevated .from the storagespace, Y said elevating de vice having v,the usuaLiall ropes 21 .which-lead to the .drums of Ithehoisting apparatuslandby which said -elevating device is` raised 0r lowered and is opened for the discharge .o i the materialandclosed to receive ma- V.terial'.. -rAlthoughit `iswithin my invention to use any type vof elevating device ,v I will for convenience herein refer to `said elevatingdevice as a; hoisting bucket, it be- 8 4above, the .storage `bins 9.

able because when-thehoisting apparatus isllocated.

. and 5, the hoisting apparatus is mounted on a carriage 'the position-over either oi the tracks l1 ing understood that I am not limited to any particular type of bucket in so doing.

The friction clutches for operating the hoisting drums o the hoist 19 are controlled by suitable levers 22 and the electric hoist may be controlled by a controller 23 of any suitable pattern, said controller and levers bot-h being'preierably mounted on the carriage 17.

In. the embodiment shown in Figs. 1 and 2, means are provided whereby the bucket may be brought into thereby to discharge material into cars on either o said tracks. One Convenient way of thus positioning the bucket is to provide a trolley device 24 which is adapted to operate on a track 25 o n the carriage `y17 and arranged to extend transversely of the well 16. This trolley is provided with oppositely-disposed sheaves 26 between which the falls 2l pass and by moving said trolley on the track 25, it will be obvious that the bucket 2O may be brought into' any desired position transversely of the well. While the trolley may be operated and controlled as to its position by any suitable means, I have herein shown for this purpose a cylinder 27 having a pistoni-herein provided with a piston rod 28 extending from each end, each piston rod carrying a pulley 29 about' which passes a flexible connection 30, one end of which leads to the trolley 24, and the other end of which is connected to the carriage, as at 31. The piston may'be operated by any suitable motive fluid such, for instance, as compressed air, land means are arranged to admit the motive fluid to either end of the cylinder, thereby to move the piston in either direction. .For this purpose I have shown a pipe 33 connected to each end of the cylinder and leading to a three-way valve 32, said valve having connected thereto a pipe 34 leading to a storage reservoir 35 containing compressed air or other motive fluid under pressure. By operating the valve 32. the motive fluid may be admitted to either end of the cylinder as will be obvious., 36 is an automatic pump of any suit-V able construction connected to the reservoir 35 by a pipe 37 and by means of which the pressure in the reservoir is maintained. This arrangement has the advantage that the trolley 24 may be readily moved into any position on the track and held there without the use oi brakes or friction devices while the bucket is operated. In operating this device-the coal or other material in the storage space 4 can be elevated by the bucket 20 andl vwhen the bucket is in its elevated position the trolley 24 may be operated to bring the -lilled bucket over either track 11, as shown in full and dotted lines in Fig. .2, whereby the material in the bucket can be discharged into cars on either track. If desired I may employ suity able hoppers 38 which may be secured directlyto the carriage 17 -or may be supported from a separate carriage traveling on the tracks 18, said hoppers being for the pur'- pose of directing the material into the cars 10 as it is discharged irom. the buckets 20. These hoppers are not essential, however, as the material can be delivered directly from the bucketinto the cars.

In using this apparatus it is possible to keep a con* tinuous string .oi cars moving slowly on theyvtracks 12 .and ,11, said train oi cars passing into the vbridge at one end, around the loop 13 and out oi the bridge again on' to the tracks 12,'and while said cars are slowly passing through the bridge the hoisting apparatus herein shown can be operated to elevate bucketfuls and discharge them into the cars 10, Ithe successive buckets being discharged alternately into cars on the two tracks 11. 1n

'this way a material saving in the time of handling the coal or material can be effected.

I'n Fig. 2 l have'shown the tracks l1 ns situated within the well. In Fig. 4 which shows a similar arrangement of hoisting apparatus, said tracks 1l are sittiated outside of the well 16 and within the legs 39 of the bridge. Where the tracks are thus located the hoppers or chutes will be shaped so as to convey the material from the bucket through the open-work of the bridge into the cars 10. For this purpose I have shown said chutes as made in two parts, the part 40 being suspended from the carriage l7 and the part 4l being situated over the cars l0 and supported on car4 riages 42 ruiming on tracks 43 extending longitudinally of the bridge. lhc hopper portious4l have open inner sides andare provided with pivoted aprons 44 `which direct the material from lthe chute -10 into said hopper portionsJ said hopper portions having open bottoms through which the material is discharged into Athe cars 10., The aprons 44 are supported in their operative Aposition by ledges l5 formed on the chutes 40 or in any other suitable way. ly pivoting these aprons to the hopper portions 4l, said aprons may he swung up into a vertical positioitto permit the hopper portions to be moved longitudinally ol the bridge.

' The arrangement of hoisting apparatus shown in Fig. 4'is slightly different from that shown in Fig. 2 in that the falls 2l for the hoisting bucket after passing through the trolley 24 extend overl a direction pulley 46 mounted on the carriage and from thence lead to the drums of the hoist 19.

In Figs. 5 and 7 I have' shown a different arrangement wherein the trolley 24 is arranged to move in the direction of the length oi the bridge rather than transversely thereto. Where this arrangement is employed the bucket 20 will always be placed centrally oi the well, and in order to permit the material to Abe dis-A charged from cars on either track l1, a special form of hopper and chute is used. As shown in Figs. 5 `and 7, the track 25 on which the trolley 24 runs extends longitdinally oi the bridge and suspended from eachend of the carriage is a hopper or chute 50 which is provided with the two branches 51 which extend overthe two tracks 11 so that material dumped into the hopper 50 will be carried into cars situated on both tracks. I propose to have such a hopper 50 suspended from each end ofthe carriage 17 so that the bucket 20 may be discharged irst into one hopper and then into the other. The object of employing two hoppers is the same as that for whichl make provision inthe embodiment shown in Figs. 1 and 2 for discharging the material alternately into cars on the two tracks 11, that is, to make it possible to handle coal or other material .with muchy greater rapidity than would be .possible if the material were discharged into cars on one track only. It is not practical to move the train of ears on the tracks 11 intermittently, the only feasible way being 'to keep said cars slowly butcontinuously moving on said track. The cars, however, should be moving slowly enough so that each car will'remain under each hopper long enough to receive a bucketful of. material when the bucket is discharged.- By arranging to discharge the buckets into cars on both tracks, as herein shown, the

seaeao cars may be m'oved at the requisite speed and yet the bucket 20 will be kept practically in constant motion.

In the forms of the invention thus far shownthe hoist is'supported on the carriage 17 which travels longitudinelly of the bridge. Under some conditions it may be desirable to mount the hoist at some fixed place in the bridge such an embodiment being shown in Fg. 6 wherein the hoist designated 190 is situated at one end of the bridge. In this case the falls 21 will extend over a direction pulley 60 on the carriage 17 and thence to the drums of the hoist 190.

In order to stiften the bridge against stress due to wind pressure, I propose to use strong-backs 126 which extend across the well and are connected to the two legs 39'oi the bridge. These strong-backs may have any suitable aconstruction and are in the nature' of tiemembers for tying together the two legs of the bridge. In Figi 4 they are placed near the bottom of the bridge and thus servenot only to tie together the two sides of the bridge, but also to stiften that portion of the legs in which the bracing is omitted to make room for the cars 10.

In Figs. 2 and 7 the strong-backs are shown situated above the tracks ll at a sufficient height so as to permit the cars 10 to pass beneath them. Where the strong-backs are thus'situated they would be in the way of the chutes 38. and 50 if said strong-backs were permanently secured in place, and for this reason I- propose to make them capable of removal so that any individual strong-back may be removed to permit the carriage 17 with the depending chutes 38 and 50 to pass along the track. For thus detachably securing the strong-backs in place I have shown'the endsthereoi as received between two plates 127, see Fig. 8," which plates are riveted or otherwise secured to the post or upright 128 forming part of the bridge, said strong-back being bolted between the plates 127 by means of bolts 129. By removing the bolts any individual strongback may be removed to permit the carriage 17 with its depending chutes or hoppers to be shifted along the track 18. Any number of these strong-backs may be used that are necessary to properly `stiifen the bridge.-

I have not attempted to illustrate herein'all forms of my invention, buthave selected merely the preferred embodiments thereof,

Having fully described my invention, what I claimas new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:-

' chai-'fed into either' conveyer.

2. In a coalhandling apparatus, the combination with a bridge, of two tracks carried thereby, an elevating device to elevate material, and means to discharge the material into cars on either track.

3. In a coal-,handling apparatus, the combination with a bridge sustained at its ends and having a well extending longitudinally thereof, of a carriage supported on said bridge within said well and arranged to traverse said bridge longitudinally, a hoisting device supported by the carriage, and means to position said hoisting device at either side of the well for discharging its load.

4. In a coal-handling-apparatus, the combination with a bridge having a well extending longitudinally thereof, of a carriage supported on said bridge within the well and movable longitudinally of the bridge, a track supported by the bridge either side of the well, a hoisting bucket dependinglfrom said carriage, means to operate' said hoisting bucket, and means to discharge the contents thereof into car-son either track.

5. In a coal-handling apparatus, the omblnationwlth a bridge having a well extending longitudinally thereof, of a carriage supported on said bridge within said weil and movable longitudinally thereof, tracks within the well on either side of the bridge, a hoisting'bucket suspended from said carriage, means to operate said bucket, and means to discharge the contents thereof into cars on either track.

In a coai-handling apparatus, the combination with a movable bridge, of a hoisting device carried thereby, means to-move the hoisting device longitudinally of the bridge a hoisting bucket operated by the hoisting device and-movable means co-actlng with the falls of the hoisting bucket to control the position thereof horizontally in a direction transversely to the length of the bridge.

7. In a coal-handling apparatus, the combination with a movable bridge having a well, of a hoisting device carriedv thereby Withinithe well, a hoisting bncketnperated by the hoisting device and movable means co-acting with the' falls of the hoisting bucket to control the position thereof transversely of the bridge. n

8. l'In a.coai-handling'appnratus, thecombinatlon with a bridge, of a carriage movably mounted thereon, a track on said carriage, a trolley on the track, `a hoisting device including a hoisting bucket suspended) from said carriage by fall ropes which have operative engagement with the trolley, and means to operate the trolley to shift the position horizontally of the hoisting bucket.

9. In a coal handling apparatus, the combination with a bridge, of a carriage ymovably mounted thereon, a track on said carriage extending transversely of the bridge, a trolley on said track, a hoisting device including a hoisting bucket suspended from the carriage by' fall ropes which Ihave operative engagement with the trolley, and means to shift the'posltlon 'of the trolley on the track .thereby to shift the position horizontally of the hoisting bucket.

10. In a coal handling apparatus, th'e combination with a bridge having a well, of a carriage movable longitudinally of, the bridge within the well, a hoisting bucket sus. pended from the carriage, means for operating the hoisting bucket, and means to move 'said hoisting bucket horizontally' with relation to the carriage.

11. In a coal handling apparatus, the combination with a bridge having a well, of a carriage movable longitudinally of the brldge-within the weil, a hoisting bucket suspended from the carriage, means for operating the hoisting bucket, and means to move said hoisting .bucket horizontally with relation to the carriage, and to hold said bucket in any desired horizontal positlon..'

12. Ina coal han ling apparatus, thecombination with a movable bridge having a well, of a carriage mounted thereon for movement longitudinally thereof within the well, ay hoisting bucket suspended from the carriage, means for operating the hoisting bucket, and other meansindependent from the means for operating the hoisting bucket for moving said hoisting bucket horizontally with relation to the carriage'.`

13. In a coal-handling apparatus, the combination with a bridge having a well extending longitudinally thereof, f a carriage within the well arranged to move longitudinally of the bridge, atrack on each side of the bridge within the weil, a hoisting bucket suspended from the carriage, and means to operate the bucket to elevate material ud discharge lt into a car on one of the tracks.

l-l. In a coal-handling apparatus, the' combination with a bridge having a longitudinal extending well, of a track on each side of the bridge within the well and conveyers o'n said tracks. y l

In testimony whereof, -I have signed my name to this specification, in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

` JAMES M. McCLELLoN.

Witnesses Msriesnn'r A. DUNN, BnB'rHA F. Hausen.. 

